City Council - workshop

you Thank you.

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Jennifer, do we have any citizen comments?

No, sir.

Thank you. City Manager Hillman, City Operations Update.

Thank you, Mayor. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. It's good to be with you. We have three operational updates. The first one is going to be last month on ICTN, and Heather will walk us through that. Good afternoon, Heather.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. I'm Heather Taylor, Marketing Manager of the Communications Department, sitting in for April Reiling. In August, ICTN highlighted local businesses, schools, and community leaders. Here is last month on ICTN.

URICTN team produced 33 videos in the month of August. Future in Focus serves as the city's organizational framework, fostering a culture of strategic planning and data-informed decision making.

We have our flight simulators here in Irving. We have our classroom and all our training facilities in Irving. Airplane mechanics training, ground support trainings, all done right here in Irving, Texas.

our community members, our students creating this space for the future and it's here and it's just kind of a proud joyful moment for our community and our students.

We've done this 23 years and I feel like I've made enough money with the community so why not give back?

Hopefully next year we come back out and we do it again.

One of our popular ones is our Torch S'mores Cheesecake. Our Texas Pecan is very popular as well and they're all specifically here for Irving.

I'm a product of Irving schools. It's just wonderful to be able to help the schools and the kids and the teachers.

Irving was this small town and it had a soda fountain and a drugstore and a main street and I think that's really important for us to keep connected to.

Since I moved here in 82 and Las Colinas was just starting to boom, to watch that growth, it's amazing.

Irving is a top-notch city to work for. They're always asking us if we have everything we need, if we need anything. They're excellent planners and it's been great.

We can walk all the way to Las Colinas and have a coffee over there. Just come and enjoy the parks and come and enjoy the trails and you will be amazed by how great they make you feel.

Stay up to date by subscribing to our YouTube channel at youtube.com slash the city of Irving.

Thank you, Heather. Appreciate that. Next mayor and council, I'd like to invite up Melissa and Stephanie. to give an update on our environmental career symposium. Howdy, y'all.

Good afternoon. Thank you, Chris. Melissa Baker, project manager for the Public Works team. I am very pleased to be here with you, with Stephanie, for what is going to be our third annual environmental career symposium. As you guys know, we have been managing the energy contract in environmental areas and expanding into workforce development, and this gives a great opportunity to do that. And with no further ado, Stephanie is here to manage it, and I'll pass out the flyers. We hope to see you. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Stephanie Wagner, Environmental Programs Coordinator. I'm really excited to announce that our Environmental Career Symposium is going to be tomorrow from 1 to 4 p.m. at Vistacorp off of 114. This is a free event that's geared towards anybody that's interested in pursuing an environmental career, and it's a great opportunity to learn about career options both in the public and private sectors. We're going to have representatives from a variety of organizations and also from our own department. So big thank you to MTU, Parks and Rec, and Water Utilities for joining us. We'll also have organizations like Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Trees Foundation, Kimley Horn, Friesen Nichols, John Bunker Wetland Center, and more. There will be two different panel sessions where you can hear from experts in the field about how to choose the right environmental career for you and what a day in their life at work is like. We'll also be offering free headshots as well as resume and LinkedIn coaching. And we do want to give a quick shout out definitely to NCTCOG for all their help with planning this event, as well as Dallas College, Irving ISD, and Uplift for participating. So if you know anyone that may be interested in attending, we definitely encourage you to pass along the information to them. And we hope to see you there. Thank you.

All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate that, Stephanie and Melissa. Thanks for all your help on that. Last, I'd like to turn the time over to Rachel for an introduction. Rachel.

Thank you, Chris, and good afternoon, Mayor and City Council. I am truly delighted to introduce you to our new Interim Library Director, Glynise Robinson. Glynise is walking up as I speak. Ms. Robertson joined... Robinson, excuse me. We have had a Robertson recently, Ms. Robinson. joined the city on September 1st and is going to be serving an interim stint for six to eight months with us. Chris and I had several interviews for potential interim library director candidates and Ms. Robinson was by far the most qualified. She comes to us with 40 years of library leadership experience. She served from 1999 to 2017 as the City of Fort Worth's Library Director and she's also worked for the City of Dallas as well as the Library of Congress earlier in her career. So we are really excited to have her as a steady leadership presence for our library team over the course of the next several months and wanted to give Ms. Robinson an opportunity to introduce herself to all of you.

Good afternoon. Thank you, Rachel. And good afternoon to Mayor and Council. I am really delighted to be here. So you have probably read some of my background because some information was sent around. but I'm not going to focus on my educational background nor my experience because you can read about that. What I do want to do is do two things. I want to spend just a minute to tell you about me and why I do this after 40 years and still back for more, and then just a little comment about the library. So this has been my life's work starting in 1967 when I took my first half-credit library science class. not realizing that I would become a librarian. That was my desire. Finished up high school, went on to college, worked in the library, took 26 hours of library electives, still not planning to be a librarian. Following that, got married, moved to Texas, and decided, you know, I need to do something with my life. My husband said, do what you've been doing. I said, what is that? He said, go to library school. And I thought, oh, okay. So I went to University of Michigan. I studied academic libraries because I had worked in academic libraries. So what you need to know is there are four disciplines for librarianship, public libraries, academic libraries, school libraries, and special libraries, special libraries of medical, law, art, those libraries. So I studied academics, came back, didn't get a job. So I had met a guy from Dallas, Dallas Public Library, and he had this job at the Adelia Road branch of the Dallas Public Library. And he said, would you take this job? And I said, yes, I'll take it. But I don't know anything about public libraries, so if I do a halfway decent job and decide to leave, will you give me a good reference? He said yes. That was 1976. So I worked at the Adelia Road branch from 76 to 79. And by that time, I had decided I don't know enough about public libraries to do a really good job. So that took me back to library school. I needed to understand public library history. I needed to understand public library services. I needed to understand our clientele. When I mentioned the other libraries, they all have special clientele. We don't. We have them all. And we love them all. So working at the Dallas Public Library, that's when I realized what my life would be. And I have spent the last 40 years doing it, and I love doing it. And someone said, you must really love books. I said, no, you know, books are okay. What I really love... I love working with people so that we connect people to the proper information so that they make more informed decisions to improve their quality of life. That's what we do in a nutshell. And I'm glad that this chapter of my life brings me to Urban to work with Urban and the city of Urban and the library staff. They are doing extremely excellent work. I've gone out to all of the branches. They are uniquely different, as they should be, because their communities are uniquely different. They have so much going on until my head is spinning. Today, we started already the library card campaign. We are moving into the big read, which will be followed by team week, team book festival, and then the summer reading program, and then everything else that's between there. And I've been told that the satisfaction level with the library is second next to fire. And you can't beat that. Fire is an emergency service. So people choose to go to the library and to parks. So here I am to give you the best of whatever I have. working with one of the most extraordinary staffs I've worked with. So thank you for having me, and I will give you 150% on most days.

Mayor and Council, that's our operations update. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. First of all, I'd like to welcome our colleague, I want to say thank you for being here. What a nice surprise. Welcome back in the fold here, my friend. Okay. Well, I have the honor of inviting up two very special individuals. First of all, Maura Gass. Maura, would you join me with your honorees to be part of the proclamation I'll be reading on behalf of the Hotel Association of North Texas Centennial Day? Would you like to introduce them before I do this?

Thank you, Mayor.

Just the Hotel Association of North Texas, as it's known today, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. And so we have with us Tracy Mayer, who is the executive director of the association where she's been for the last eight years. Prior to that, for 16 years, Tracy ran the Dallas-Fort Worth Area Tourism Council. So we've worked very closely with Tracy for a long time. And Sarah Chung, the assistant executive director, she is the queen of everything Tracy doesn't want. At the Hotel Association, they are a mighty two-person staff most of the time, and they make amazing things happen. So this is really on their behalf, and we're just happy to be here today.

Proclamation. Whereas Irving's hospitality tradition dates to 1911, when the city's first hotel opened with eight rooms, and today has grown to more than 90 hotels and 13,000 rooms, reflecting more than a century of growth, and the industry's enduring contributions to Irving's economy, and whereas the Hospital Association of North Texas was founded in 1926 and marks the 100th anniversary this year. celebrating 100 years at the heart of hospitality. And whereas, for the century, the hotel associations have fulfilled the mission to lead, connect, promote the North Texas hospitality community, representing hotels, hospitality partners across the six-county region, including the city of Irving. And whereas the hospitality and tourism industry is a vital economic engine for the City of Irving, generating jobs, tax revenue, and visitor spending that support destinations such as the Irving Arts Center and museums, the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, and the Toyota Music Factory. And whereas the City of Irving values the continuing partnership with HANTX, I assume that's the Hospital Association of Texas, and joins the North Texas hospitality community in celebrating the milestone anniversary and honoring 100 years of leadership, connection, and service. Now, therefore, I, Albert C. Zapanta, Mayor of the City of Irving, and the City Council do hereby proclaim September 10th 2026 as Hotel Association of North Texas Centennial Day in Irving, Texas, and congratulate the Hotel Association of North Texas on this historic milestone. In witness, Al Zapanta. Thank you.

Thank you so much for this. This is truly a milestone event and it's an exciting time and I just want to say again thank you so much to the City of Irving, to Maura and the Convention Visitors Bureau and all the people that are part of the hospitality community. This is a tremendous industry and It's so important to have a vital hotel and hospitality network within a community because again it is an economic generator and it provides jobs and provides opportunities for kids coming up and looking for opportunities for workforce development. We are a great springboard to skills and to a lifetime of career. So just thank you so much for your support. We appreciate it so very much and thank you for celebrating this special milestone with us. Thank you.

Okay, this time I'd like to welcome Samantha Beltran. Samantha, are you here somewhere? There you go. Samantha will be representing our libraries and our library directors. Please come up and join us all.

We have a big library group.

Okay. Keep coming. Keep coming. Come all the way around. Come all around. Oh, we got the new one.

Say hello, Gregory. That's me. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome.

The City of Irving Office of the Mayor Proclamation, whereas Library Card Sign-Up Month highlights the value of the library membership and the resident card which offers free access to information, new technologies, homework, resources, and materials that can change lives and bring immeasurable enjoyment, and whereas the Irving Public Library mission is to provide a gateway to knowledge and discovery by building connections between resources, services, and events with residents and whereas Irving Public Library staff venture beyond the library buildings to share their love of literacy, introduce residents to library services, and demonstrate how libraries continually expand to meet the evolving needs of our community. And whereas libraries build communities by supporting literacy and lifelong learning and coordinate programs for all ages that bring people together to share ideas, discover new interests, and discuss issues of common concern. And whereas during library card sign-up month, Parents, caregivers, and students are reminded that a library card, a child's most important school supply, is the first step towards academic achievements and lifelong learning. Therefore, I, Albert C. Zafonta, Mayor of the City of Irving, and the City Council do hereby proclaim the month of September 2026 as Library Card Sign-Up Month. We encourage everyone to sign up for their own library card in Irving, Texas. Signed, Albert C. Zapanta, Mayor. Thank you.

You're already getting all that. Get on up here. Well, I tell you, we are connectors. That's what we do. Oh, yeah, you got it. So thank you very much for this recognition, and make sure you don't go home without having a library card. So if you don't have one already, make sure you get one over the weekend.

All right. Thank you so much. Welcome.

Thank you.

Shall we take a photo? Yeah. Okay. Come on over. Get right in the middle.

You're going to join me right in the middle?

Yeah, you're doing it right. Get on up.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We're really lucky to have her, for sure. Thank you so much.

Okay, what a great way to start today. At this time, we're going to go into the review of the regular agenda unless city manager has anything more that I need to deal with at this point. Thank you. Okay, our city council agenda, we've already completed our city operations update. We're now moving into the adoption under the ordinance of 2026-2027 City of Irving's fiscal year budget. This budget will raise more than a total property tax than last year's budget by $32,296,939, or 14.38%. And of that amount, $3,372,681. million is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year. I will not read the administrative comments. I think you have it in front of you in your book. We'll move on to item three.

Mayor, if I may, my apologies. Council, during our Audit and Finance Committee meeting earlier this morning, we did walk through some of the changes that are have been made based upon what you had received in the city manager proposed budget to what you have tonight for your consideration. So I just reference you to that information that we had this morning during our ANF committee meeting. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Okay. So let me see if I understand it. Do you want me to read this administrative comments or not? No, sir. So we're good to go.

I was just providing an update.

I just want to be sure. Okay, thank you.

We walked through everything this morning.

Because Dennis is going to tell me I don't have to read it all. Right, Dennis? Okay, item number three, ordinance, ratifying the fiscal year 2027 budget, which increased property tax revenue. Administrative comments? We'll move on to item number four, ordinance, setting the 2026 tax rate and levying the tax as required by the state of Texas property tax code. That concludes that portion of the agenda. At this point, we'll move on to the consent agenda. Item?

Mayor, you do have item number five, which is adopting the 2026 tax rule.

Yes, you're correct. I missed it. Five, ordinance adopting the 2026 city Irving tax rule as required by the state of Texas property tax code. Okay. We're on to item number six, which is consent agenda. Approving the budget retreat minutes for Tuesday, August 11, 2026. I'm going to go through it all, and then we'll just do one motion. Is that appropriate? Or do we need to do each one?

Yeah, there's no motion at this meeting. That will come tonight, sir.

Correct. All right. Item 7, approving the work session minutes for Thursday, August 27, 2026. Item 8. approving the regular meeting minutes of Thursday, August 27, 2026. Item 9, resolution amending the City Council rules of procedure requested by Mayor Zapanta. Next, item 10, resolution approving an agreement with the Office of the Governor of Texas Homeland Security State Administrative Agency. to receive and participate in the fiscal year 2025 Homeland Security Grant Program for the Police Department's Traffic Camera Project. Number 11.

Yes, Dennis. Yeah, I got a question. So I've been asked, does this have to do with flock cameras?

Good afternoon, Darren Still with the Police Department. And no, these are 15 pan, tilt, zoom traffic cameras that are at intersections. They're just on the major roadways, so they're not flock cameras. Okay, thanks.

You're welcome. Okay, you good then?

Yep.

Okay, item 11, resolution, approving an agreement with the Office of the Governor of Texas Homeland Security State Administrative Agency. to receive and participate the fiscal year 2025 Homeland Security Grant Program for the police department's SWAT headsets project. Item number 12, resolution approving the interlocal agreement with Dallas County Health and Human Services for control of communicable disease services in the total estimated amount of $81,906. Item number 13, resolution, approving a billing service agreement with Digitech Computer LLC for emergency medical services billing and collection services. Item 14, resolution, approving contract with Granicus in the amount of not to exceed $1,010,436 for services. web-based applications and digital marketing services for the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Irving Convention Center, and the Irving Hospitality Venues. Item number 15, resolution approving and accepting a proposal of SYB Construction Company Inc. in the amount of $1,943,575.90 for the Skyway Circle South Part II Water and Wastewater Improvement Project. Item 16, Resolution. Awarding the contract to Key Construction, Texas, LLC in the amount of $787,674.18 for the Irving and Grand Prairie Joint Fire Training Center Prevention Repairs Project. Item 17, Resolution, approving Addendum 3 to the Professional Services Agreement between the City of Irving and the Pape Dawson Engineers, Inc. in the amount of $4,267,700 for the North Delaware Creek Drainage Improvement Project Phase 2. Item number 18, resolution adopting the work plan and setting the consideration for fiscal year 2026-2027 in the amount of $2,664,515 for the agreement between the City of Irving and the Greater Irving Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce to provide economic development services. Item number 19, resolution adopting work plan and setting the consideration for fiscal year 2026-2027 for agreement within the City of Irving and the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce to provide international affairs and sister cities and trade center services. Item number 20, resolution approving the fiscal year 2026-2027 entertainment center maintenance and operations work plan and budget Mayor yes, I think we have a presentation on this one. I wouldn't mind listening to item number 20, okay item number 20 Jack that Jennifer yeah, okay

Thank you.

Okay, good afternoon. Jennifer Ramirez with Community and Economic Development. So this is an overview of the Entertainment Venue Maintenance and Operations Work Plan and Budget. So it has an overview. There are several revenue streams that make up the entertainment center budget. And so that consists of the 2% hotel occupancy tax assessed on all rooms across the city, an admission tax of 10% that's assessed on revenue-producing activities at the 280 Music Factory, and sales and mixed beverage taxes. There are a variety of restrictions on the use of these funds. By state law, revenues must be expended for eligible venue project costs, including venue construction costs, maintenance costs, and operational costs. As we receive these funds, the priority is first to fund the debt service, then the city's administrative costs, maintenance and operations reserve account, and then to reimburse the company for any construction costs, and then any lawful venue project costs. So this is the primary fund where we keep track of the hotel occupancy tax. And as I mentioned a while ago, the expenditures are transferred out in the order that we just discussed. So first to the debt service of $4. million for next year, a transfer to the admin expense fund of $330,000. There is no transfer to the maintenance and operations reserve account because that is fully funded at this time. And then any excess is considered excess primer, which would be reimbursed back to the company, our tenant. By state law, these revenues must be expended for maintenance and operations at the Toyota Music Factory. So the company submits a work plan and budget. It's reviewed by city staff and then considered by the city council. For admission tax, there's a 10% admission tax collected for all ticketed events such as at the Pavilion, the Alamo, the Plaza, Rayleigh, and now Punchline. So together with the hotel occupancy tax and the admission tax, these revenues are used in the work plan and budget that is provided by our tenant. So those estimates are excess primer in the amount of $3.1 million. The admission tax, $1.9 million. And then $607,000 for advertising and off-premise business revenues. So this is a copy of what the budget looks like that's provided by our tenant. Their expenditures include advertising and marketing, maintenance and repairs, insurance, parking. And for the maintenance items, they've included the full amount that was identified in our earlier inspection by our third-party inspector at the music factory. Are there any questions?

David? Okay. Yeah, thank you. Okay. Thank you, Jennifer.

Excuse me, Mayor. Yes. If I may. Yes, go ahead. Just one follow-up question. I'm just curious about the budgeted versus projected on the excess primer fund. This is on slide four.

Mm-hmm.

Okay. It's about a million-dollar difference, that bottom 2025-26 budget versus projected transfer to excess primer fund. Do you have a comment on why that was so much higher?

Yes, because before we can provide that excess primer amount, so this is really the amount that is going to be reimbursed in 27-28 on this line item right here. Because we have to go through a process and the audit before we actually reimburse that amount.

Okay. And so by projected, is that, I mean, I guess we're getting close to the end of the fiscal year. Is this more or less the actual versus the budget?

More or less, yes. But we'll still have a few more months of hotel occupancy tax that we'll receive. We don't actually receive it at the end of September. There's like a two-month lag.

In arrears, yeah, sure. And then, so the basis for the 26-27 proposed, I mean, I'm not questioning your math or anything like that. I'm just saying, are we going to see the same kind of revenue bump in 26-27? Yes, right. We're expecting that? Okay. Okay, yeah, great. Thank you.

Okay, any other questions? Thank you, Jennifer.

Thank you.

Item 21, Resolutions. approving the amendment to the professional service agreement with AECOM Technical Services Inc. in the amount of $32,175 for large meter survey to aid in the advanced metering infrastructure replacement project. Item number 22, resolution, authorizing payment to ITRON, I-T-R-O-N, Inc., in the total amount of $124,979.91 for the renewal of hardware and software maintenance agreements for the advanced metering infrastructure network and meter reading equipment and software. Item 23. Resolution approving Change Order No. 1 to the Princeton Booster Pump Station Expansion with Garney Companies Inc. in the total amount of $118,650.71. And that completes our section. And now moving on to bids and purchasing items. Before I move any farther, are there any questions on any of these items? Okay, thank you. Moving on to bids and purchasing items number 24, resolution authorizing the purchase from Cornerstone On-Demand Inc. in the total estimated amount of $429,022.41 for online training programs and materials for employees for the four-year period. Item number 25, Resolution Approving the Purchase from Texas Kenworth Company, LLC, DBA MHC Kenworth, in the total estimated amount of $289,635.37 for a 2026 Kenworth T380 cab and chassis with KMT service body. Item 26. Ordinance authorizing the partial abandonment and vacation of five-foot private access and maintenance easement along the portion of property located at 4178 and 4182 Kenwala Nafal Court. I'm going to spell that. K-H-A-W-L-A-H, then capital N-A-F-A-L, Court. Part 2. of the James Moore Survey Abstract Number 972, Part of Lots 21 and 22, Block C, Cordova Estates Amended, owned by Harma Holdings, LLC. Item Number 27, Ordinance Second Reading, Approving the Negotiated Settlement between Atmos Cities Steering Committee and Atmos Energy Corporation, Mid-Tex Division. regarding the company's 2026 rate review mechanism filing. We now move on to individual considerations. Item 28, ordinance, public hearing and second reading. An ordinance amending chapter 33 entitled Refuge, Garbage, and Weeds, section 33-33 and 33-34. of the Code of Civil and Criminal Ordinance of the City of Irving, Texas, providing for a new solid waste service rate and fees. Item number 29, Ordinance, Public Hearing and Second Reading and Ordinance Amending Section 41-57 of Article 9 entitled Municipal Drainage Utility System of Chapter 41 entitled water and sewer systems of the Code of Civil and Criminal Ordinance of the City of Irving, Texas, setting a new schedule of drainage charges. Item 30, Ordinance, Public Hearing and Second Reading and Ordinance Amending Chapter 52, entitled Water and Sewer Rates. of the Code of Civil and Criminal Ordinance of the City of Irving, Texas, providing for new monthly water and sewer rates. Item number 31, ordinance, take away necessary action relating to the fiscal year 2026-2027 vacant municipal court judge's position.

Mayor.

Yes.

I'd like to get a presentation on this. Okay. There's only two administrative comments, but more in particular, what does this actually do?

Okay. We have a presentation at this point?

Mayor, this is a companion item with your executive session items. We're taking up an executive session? Yes, so an executive session.

Are you good with that, Dennis? Okay. Explain more. Good. Okay. So be it. Okay, on to zoning cases at this point. Thank you, Jocelyn.

Good afternoon, Jocelyn Murphy, Director of Planning. We just have the one case tonight. It's an amendment to our Unified Development Code. It's regarding rooming houses and boarding houses. This was heard by the Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday, and they voted approval by eight to zero. So a little background. Earlier this year, the Planning and Development Committee asked the code compliance staff to look at ways to regulate the rooming houses that have been popping up. A lot of those have been the pad splits and the rental of individual units. And so staff identified that there were some definitions and some adjustments that we need to do to the land use table and the Unified Development Code. So rooming house is a separate leasing or agreement to use individual rooms and the people share facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms, but they are not living together as a single housekeeping unit. Rooming houses are only allowed in the RXF extra family district. They are considered a multifamily use and a rooming house would be required to rezone in order to operate in the other district. Of course, most of the ones we have today, if not all, are in single-family districts, which are not allowed by right. The city has received complaints about rooming houses, the crash pads, the pad splits in those single-family homes. A lot of the complaints are parking and noise. And we do have Chapter 8A, which regulates boarding home facilities for the disabled and elderly persons, which is different from a rooming house. This is just a map of our current RXF districts. There are actually very few. As we were going through this, I'm not actually as familiar with the district because we just don't use it. So a couple of them are single-family homes. We have the table community center is zoned RXF. There's a church, some outside storage, but we have no legal rooming houses currently operating today. I just added the standards here for RXF. So if we did have someone do a rooming house by right in the RXF district, there are certain standards in order for them to build that structure. So our proposed amendments are just some cleanup. This is in order to help code compliance staff as they move to enforce the rooming houses that are in those single family districts or in places they shouldn't be. So it's just to clean the residential use chart, revise rooming house to be more modernized as a rooming lodging house. Delete the use of boarding house to reduce confusion. It's to change the terminology boarding homes for the disabled to read as boarding home facility, again, to match up with Chapter 8A, and then also clean up the RXF district to remove the boarding house. We're also setting a parking requirement if someone were to build a rooming house in an RXF district to have one space per room. And then, again, amend some of the definitions to clean them up to match Chapter 8A and to address the change of boarding house and rooming house. And then we wanted to offer some potential changes if council wanted to proceed with considering these multifamily uses and multifamily districts. We have a couple amendments we could do if that is what council wanted to do. And then code would also do some licensing and registration as well. So those are just potential options. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Questions by the council? No. Thank you so much, Mayor. So similar to STR, can we put some guardrails or restriction that three violations and you lose your license or something like that?

Well, and that's what, and Shane, I'm not sure where Shane is. That's what, if we were going to, right now they're only allowed in the RXF district. So if we had some come up, they would have to rezone. So if that started to happen, we could build that. If they were going to be allowed by right in the multifamily district, then that was part of that proposal. So we had talked about creating some type of parallel licensing regulation structure.

So we're talking about rezoning, not necessarily permit for Right now the way it stands, you would have to rezone to RXF to do a rooming house. And then are we doing permit for this kind of housing?

Currently these are not permitted in the single family zones or the multi-family zones. The second phase there that's mentioned is an option that planning was exploring regarding if the council had wanted to find similar to how we determined that the STRs in multifamily would not need a CUP, if the council had a similar philosophy here and wanted to look at rezoning or amending the code so that in multifamily you could have one of these rooming houses, then we could adopt a companion program to that similar to how we would regulate multifamily and STRs but they're currently not allowed in single family zones or multifamily zones.

Just to be clear, this ordinance is clarifying our prohibition on rooming houses in single family districts. The only exception is the RXF district which is a current exception today. That's what this ordinance is doing today. It is not proposing any kind of licensing, it's not opening up to have rooming houses in multifamily districts. I think this last slide that Jocelyn pulled up was a possibility if council was interested in further licensing rooming houses in multifamily districts and allowing them through a license. That's a possibility if council wants us to go there, but this ordinance does not do that. It is simply to clarify the prohibition of rooming houses in the single family districts.

Yeah, I really liked the way we put the STR where there were some teeth to it. That yes, there was an ordinance, there was rezoning, but then there was a permit and through that we were able to- Our teeth right now is an absolute prohibition.

It's illegal. This is clarifying it's illegal absolutely in every case in every single family district.

So we just don't allow it?

We don't allow period. Okay.

except in the rxf district which is very you know maybe a half a dozen locations throughout the city all right thank you excuse me mark yeah thank you jocelyn for the presentation that it's a great clarification and um appreciate the the work done on that and then as far as phase two i think it's a similar issue as far as multi-family goes I mean, single-family homes have people concerned about the neighborhoods and whatever else, but also with multifamily, I mean, I don't think people living in apartments want to see the constant rotation with rooms being rented out like that either. It also adds more parking issues and similar problems that single-family residents have as well. So I don't see a need to go to that phase two.

Yes, Adam. Thank you, Mayor. Yes, I agree with Councilman Cronwit. Question, do we have an idea of how many are currently operating illegally in the residential areas?

Code enforcement has about seven cases open right now. We issued notices, we've been investigating, we've undertaken enforcement at the initial stages. And this amendment this evening will allow us to be on even further ground as we likely end up in court. either at the municipal court level through citations or the district court level as we pursue them. So there's right now known about seven of them. We're continuing to develop investigative tools and ways to locate ads for these online and various things that may uncover additional rooming houses. But right now we've got about seven open cases.

Great, and should they go get contested in court? There's no grandfather claim or anything like that because they've always been prohibited.

No, the ones we're working right now, we've ensured that they were not operating so long that they were ahead of the language we're working with now. And that they're not also, we have one property in the city that is actually licensed as a multifamily property. And that's an almost ancient determination there that allows them to do that. And so the ones we're pursuing do not have a grandfather right. Great. Thank you.

Okay. Any other questions for Jocelyn? Thank you, Jocelyn.

Thank you.

Item number four is the, I think we take up the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, is that correct?

While the mail is making way up, just by way of reminder, we do have economic development service contracts with both the Irving Las Colinas Chamber and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. They are five-year agreements. This coming fiscal year is the last year of our current agreements. We will undertake negotiations and discussions with both chambers to renew those five-year agreements. We'd like to have those in place by the spring so that they're known. Information is predictable as we prepare the fiscal year budget for next year. We'll be reviewing the agreements with the Hispanic Chamber at this meeting. We anticipate coming back on October 29th to review the agreement with the Irving Las Colinas Chamber at work session. So Melda, we'll just provide a review and any input or comments from council that can give us direction as we begin to negotiate renewals of those agreements would be appreciated.

All right. Thank you, Phillip. So just to, again, this will be a high-level overview. And as Philip mentioned, our current contract will be ending next year. So the goal of our contract with the Hispanic Chamber is specifically for small business economic development services, looking at promoting the economic development and business growth with a focus on, again, but not limited to South Irving. And they're doing these through a series of strategies meeting these objectives. the following objectives. So implementing programs that would increase economic activity by small businesses within the city, assisting companies to increase job opportunities for city residents, assisting small businesses in conducting business with the city and other large entities, and then encouraging the growth and development of South Irving and Heritage District. Those objectives are met through the delivery of strategies within five different program areas. Those program areas are small business development, business retention, marketing and communication, entrepreneurship and small business, and then finally the Gross South Irving and Heritage District. So next couple of slides we'll go through what each of those services are under those focus areas and the associated performance measurements. So for our small business development focus area, we're looking at services of hosting programs and events to support our small businesses activity in Irving, pursuing programs to increase the demand for available property, promoting Irving at conventions and expos, and providing bilingual education resources and marketing materials to our small businesses to encourage their investment Irving. That is delivered by the chamber by assisting 48 businesses annually with information about conducting their business here in Irving, and then developing an annual survey to assess the needs of our small business community and relaying that back to the city. Under our business retention focus area, looking to provide small businesses with education programs, as well as providing guidance and assistance to those small businesses, again with that emphasis in South Irving, serving as an ongoing resource to support their growth and development, and then supporting events that create a positive image for Irving, both on the national and regional markets. They deliver this by hosting 10 educational events throughout the year, looking at a minimum attendance of at least 100 attendees at those programs, making at least 100 contacts with small businesses annually, and then coordinating at least one business engagement or appreciation event to help foster business networking relationships as well as recognizing those businesses that have invested here in Irving. Marketing communication includes services such as promoting the business, our city's small business initiatives and programs, and encouraging participation by our small businesses, promoting Irving as a business-friendly community, and then connecting with our city council and staff with the small business community, as well as communicating and relaying the needs of our small business community back to city staff to help inform our programs. They do this by responding to at least 80 inquiries about city services annually. They participate in our city's procurement outreach program and assisting at least four small businesses to participate in that program. They'll provide owners monthly information on both code, permitting, and other city information and resources through their website, connecting them back to the city's website as well. And then assisting the city in identifying the gaps in our procurement outreach program and other similar programs offered by the city to address the needs of those small businesses. Next, our entrepreneur and small business focus area looks at services of hosting and sponsoring events and other training that support our entrepreneurs in planning and starting their businesses here in Irving. and then connecting those entrepreneurs and businesses to the programs and resources that either the city provides or other outside entities that are provided as well. And they deliver this by hosting at least 10 entrepreneur startup events with at least 100 participants annually. hosting two Dallas College small business courses annually that consist of 10 weekly classes of at least 25 participants, and then lastly hosting three workforce readiness courses for the Irving ISD high school and college students that consist of three monthly classes with at least 15 participants. And our last focus area of growing South Irving and the Heritage District include being the information center for businesses here in South Irving and Heritage District and then hosting events here to help attract visitors through the area. This is delivered by responding to at least 200 inquiries regarding South Irving and the Heritage District and hosting at least two community events annually in South Irving or Heritage District. In addition to those services and KPIs, there are other terms in the agreement. So contractually, again, the agreement current, the current contract amount is $319,980. There is an additional $2,500 with that contract where the Chamber can utilize the city's print shop to help print any mailings or other marketing projects. materials associated with providing the services within their contract. Again, the term is currently five years with either party being able to terminate with a 60 days written notice. And then funding is always subject to the annual appropriation by council. Looking at other accountability measures and terms within the agreement, the Chamber is required to submit their budget memo to staff by May 15th to help identify any adjustments needed for their funding for the upcoming fiscal year. Their annual work plan is due to staff by July 31st, where they'll be reviewing their scope of services and their performance measurements, and then any of those proposed changes, ensuring that they always align with our city's economic development strategic plan. They report to U Council twice a year, both in April and October, to report back on how they are accomplishing their services and KPIs. And then finally, they also have to submit annually their audited financial or interim or internal financial review for our records. In addition to our service contract, we also have a lease that accompanies this service contract, which provides just over 3,800 square feet of office space over at the Jack D. Huffman Building on the second floor. These are for their offices and as to serve as that business information center. This space is provided as additional consideration in order for them to perform their services under our service contract, and that lease does run concurrently with the service contract. The Chamber is able to use the first floor auditorium for any of their service contract related events, always subject to our reservation policies. The City retains that right to relocate the Chamber to a space of comparable functionality within the building. And in regards of who's in charge of different aspects of that space, the City will be maintaining the major building systems and paying for the utilities while the Chamber is responsible for any of its office upkeep and janitorial services. And then this is just to show you the layout of their current office space as it is today. So as Philip mentioned, no formal action is requested this time. We are bringing this forward just to start getting feedback from Council on the interest of developing a new agreement, any top of mind priorities or other performance measures to think about including for a renewal contract, and then also reviewing the current elements within the contract to see if you would like to continue, modify, or not include in any future agreement. Any questions?

David. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Imelda. Just for definition purposes, what do we consider a small business?

I would go out the SBA definition is usually 100 employees or less.

100 employees or less. And is the Hispanic Chamber have a membership base like the Irving Las Clinas Chamber, or is it more community outreach type?

They do have membership. Carmen is here. If there's any specific questions you'd like to ask them on that.

Carmen, do you mind coming up for a little bit? Put you in the hot seat.

Hello, everyone.

Hi, Carmen. Just as far as membership, if you kind of Don't need exact numbers, but kind of roughly how many members currently?

Currently, we have 297 active members.

297 active?

Yes, 297.

And what's the revenue from membership versus the city contribution approximately?

So for the Chamber, that amount of contribution from the membership is about $200,000. Okay.

So not quite 50-50, but still up there. And I've always had a question of the name. You know, we call it the Hispanic Chamber. We're really focusing on small businesses, which don't have to be Hispanic to be in our Chamber. But has there ever been talk about a rebranding or –

That's a conversation that we are currently having with the board. So obviously I don't want to speak on their behalf. Okay. And the way that name came about is that's how the organization was established. But I do want to emphasize that our membership base includes everyone. So we have every single race, gender represented in our membership as well as on our board.

Agreed. And that's kind of my question, just the, you know, a name means a lot sometimes when you're thinking about joining an organization or things of that nature. So those were my big questions for now. Thank you for the metrics. I think it's great. With the performance indicators and looking at, you know, what numbers you'll be doing, a lot of it's activity-based. Do we get any results-based results? from things you're doing, and you don't need to answer this today, but I'd also like to challenge you and the board to get some results based from the activity based metrics to what are the actual results from the events. It could be surveys, it could be things like that,

So all of that information, if you look at the annual plan that we submitted a couple of months ago, we actually have metrics for everything that we are doing. We will be tracking participation, demographics, and also outcome. So we're going to do a before and after, like a survey questionnaire for the people who participate. It just depends on the activity itself.

Right.

As you see, we have different activities for different reasons.

That's right.

So wherever we need to track, and we're going to plan on tracking everything, including phone calls and things like that.

Okay, great. Thank you, Carmen.

Absolutely.

Mark?

Yeah, I don't like the name at all. It's inherently discriminatory that we're just singling out one group like that. And also, it's discriminatory, too. Inherently, we're talking about using city resources for these workshops just for Irving ISD students. I've never liked that when we just focus on just Irving ISD instead of the other school districts or charter schools. If we're going to do anything, it should be for Irving residents. I don't understand just talking about Irving ISD. And then these are also programs for organizations like Dallas College and Irving ISD that... they can fund themselves. And so again, it's city resources going for other organizations that can raise their own revenue. I'm not seeing a reason to extend the contract myself, but I'm looking forward to talking more about that.

Thank you. Quick question on this. If I'm not mistaken, most of the work for Hispanic Chamber is representing the minorities. Am I correct?

For us, the mission is to provide education and economic opportunities for the way the Chamber is written for Hispanics and also members of the Irving community.

So if any other minority community would like to join hands with the chamber to promote the small businesses in the city of Irving. Would that be a possibility?

Absolutely. Like I said, we do have members that are not Hispanic. We have blacks, whites, Indians. We have everybody in our chamber. So we don't focus specifically on Hispanics. The services are for everyone, especially when it comes to servicing this contract.

Irving has a lot of minority representations, right? I mean, both in the community-wise as well as IN THE BUSINESS WISE, SO IF ANY OTHER COMMUNITIES WOULD BE INTERESTED TO SUBLEASE THE SPACE FROM YOU IF YOU HAVE ANY EXTRA SPACE TO HAVE THEIR SMALL OFFICE OR SOMETHING, WOULD THAT BE SOMETHING TO CONSIDER?

WE DON'T. THE CITY HAS BEEN GENEROUS ENOUGH TO ALLOW US TO USE THAT SPACE. WE DON'T HAVE CONTROL OVER LEASING.

THE LEASE DOES NOT ALLOW SUBLEASING.

So how do the other communities who are interested in promoting the business would coordinate and cooperate and work with you?

They can visit our office, they can call me, we can work together, have workshops as the facility allows. So yes, I would recommend that they can call me and we can work together. Okay, thank you. Absolutely.

Anybody else on the council have a comment? Okay, I'll give you my input. I did meet with Carmen and her new board members, along with the acting chairman, Sam Reed. And so we had a very good meeting. This was about, I guess, about a month ago. And at the end of the meeting, it was very clear that, unfortunately, the past couple of years, they did not have the leadership. that was needed and they didn't have, I'm going to use Louise's comment, the ROI on the money that we have put in over five years. I am very clear on one thing. I don't think we just don't continue with their contract will be over at the end of this next fiscal year. I think we maintain the contract, but not the lease. They need to get on their own. and they need to be able to deal and do it and develop. And they're very clear on that. We had that discussion. And so there's another discussion that we need to have as a council, and that is, and you said it, at the end of the day, we have other groups representing whether ethnicity, whether it's racial, it doesn't matter, but they're a small business. And one of the things I think we may be not really being clear. And this is probably for you, not only you, Chris, as our city manager, because I know your sensitivities are there for our small business as long as we are focusing and doing the things to help our small business across the board. We had a very open... She has new members on her board. I don't want to get into what the... failures were of meeting that commitment to us because the city in good faith went forward. At this point, I'm not recommending that we approve anything, but that we maintain, let this fifth year finish at the end of next year to give them time to be able to make the transition out of not only being on their own, because I do recommend at the end of this coming year that they also be vacating that space because we're out of space too as a city. We have to move people around and I think it's the priority ought to be here internally as well. So that's my two cents that I'd like to put forward. I'd like you to consider that we go forward to continue this last year with the provisos of vacating as soon as possible. That'll be something, Phillip, you'll have to handle as well as but maintain at the same level so that they at least are not being hurt financially because we made a commitment. I think we need to finish it. So I'll stop with that. That's my input to you all. Now, I will make, after this is over on the discussion with this manage chamber, I think there's a broader question that I want us to bring forward. And maybe it's time to do a coalition of our groups for a focus on how do we assist small business. You know, I have a focus on mid-sized businesses That's part of the supply chain to our major corporations. But how do we then help grow business here? And it's across the board. So at this point, that's my input. Dennis.

Yeah, I agree with maintaining the contract for this year. I have no problem with the name at all. If they were being discriminatory and only allowing Hispanic businesses to be part of it, then I would have a problem with it. But back in, what, 98 or whenever it was established, it was given this name for a reason. And I'm not going to ask them to change the name because a few dynamics have taken place over the years. So I am on board with supporting another year. And then all the things everybody else has talked about, we can look at that later.

Okay. Anybody else? Okay. Phillip, any comments?

I'm just seeking clarification, Mayor. I know that Councilman Cronenwood had indicated not interested in renewing for another five years, and I'm a little unclear. Is the Council's desire, I know, I think there's a desire to complete this last year of the current five-year term. What we're seeking Council's direction on is a renewal of another five-year term that would start at the end of the next fiscal year. If we're going to do that, we would need to start those discussions really this fall. to bring something back in the spring. And I think that's my larger question is, is there a desire to renew up for another five years or some other term beyond the end of this current term?

I guess I'm trying to give them time to make the transition. I think for us to have to make a decision on another five years in the next 90 days, too premature, I don't think it's fair to them. I don't think it's fair to us, because I don't think we can judge them. But if we give them enough time to do the transition and continue to the end of their fifth year, which is, I assume, September 30th of 2027. but to also transition out, and that'll be something your people will have to handle, the transition physically out of the space. Because if, in fact, we don't go forward with another five years or whatever, it could be a shorter period of time, that's a different question, that's a different timing. But I do feel, you know, we can't just... I don't want to get... Let me just put it this way, we're just not going to throw the bath water out at this point. And so let's give them the time to make the transition. I've talked to them. I've met with them. I'm very comfortable that they are committed. And at the end of the day, they're having to live with some of the previous problems that unfortunately they're trying to correct. And I think they've already started down that road. And so my opinion is, number one, where you all agree with where I'm going with this, Let's finish this fifth year, and then in the meantime, let's have them transition out, and that'll be dealt with our people here as to what that timing is, but the assumption is they'll be out of the space by the end of next year or sooner. And if there's going to be another contract, then I'd like to wait until after the first of the year. That's a personal opinion. At this point, timing-wise, to give them time. Okay. You're good with that? Are we good? Okay. All right. I think we've got it. All right. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. There's kind of a broader, I'd like to, before I finish with comments, there's a really broad question I think we need to deal with, and that is small business. And how do we really, you asked the question, what is small business? Well, I think we know it. I have the SBA, you know. At the end of the day, I know what that number is. But how are we dealing with it, and how are we identifying our small business, and how do we do it across the spectrum? We keep saying we're the most diverse city and community. Well, we can't not just have one chamber of commerce other than the general one, and that's a very specific kind of activity that they're doing in the general sense. Then how do we deal with the small business and actually accommodate so everybody feels with their background that they can play in this. Now, I'm being rhetorical. I'm not putting it out there. I'm just saying it's something I think we need to take up. So comments from anybody? Chris, do you have any thoughts?

Thank you, Mayor and Council. I just want to always emphasize we very much support our small businesses here in Irving. We have been, I think, very appropriately aggressive and I believe very successful in a number of the programs. that we've identified to help them out. We've had small business grants that we have provided using the COVID dollars. We are currently providing zero interest loans over to these small businesses to help them get started. That saves them tens of thousands of dollars in interest costs that they'd have to pay to a bank or even through the SBA. As staff, as you know, we've continued to provide different thoughts into different programs. We've brought before you different programs to help them with marketing. with advertising, with building up those small businesses and those small opportunities. So we'll continue to bring those to council to get your feedback, thought, and input on how best to continue to help ensure that our small businesses are very successful here in Irving.

Phillip, any last-minute comments from you?

I appreciate the direction, and we'll kind of formalize in a letter to the chamber the discussion that occurred here so that they can anticipate what they'll need to be looking at.

Okay, David. Yeah, Mayor, thank you. And there's a few striations in small business, too. Getting to the $1 million mark, there's a whole set of skills in there. Then you get to the $5 million mark, and there's a whole different set of skills. Then $10 million. And it really gets striated down there. Once you get to a mid-sized company, you're sophisticated at that point. But there's a whole lot of hurdles of getting past your 10th employee versus getting to your 50th employee. And that's where these programs are much needed. to help out our small business, but even those categories are not the small business. There's a lot of subcategories in there that need these kind of programs tailor-made to them. And that's the kind of things I'd like to see in how are these businesses doing without our help, kind of the result-based metric at the end of the day. But I think it's a much-needed program, and I look forward to the new leadership at the Hispanic Chamber and seeing what they can do in the future. But I do agree. Let's give them a little time to get together. Glad you met with them. Glad you're there for the leadership too, Mayor. Yeah, Mark.

Still, I mean, I guess I struggle with trying to understand the two different chambers because the Irving Los Calientes Chamber can perform these functions too. So we have two different organizations. My understanding is that the Irving and Los Calientes Chamber does not exclude small businesses from what it considers its platform to be. So with there being a duplication, apparently, it's hard for me to understand why we're supporting two.

Okay, rather than ask a representative, because I think we'll be dealing with the greater Irving and Los Calientes Chamber later, so it's not the right time to be bringing it up. But I think, David, you bring a really critical point, because at the end of the day, we have restaurateurs with small restaurants. We have little construction, remodeling. So we've got all the striations. And I think it'd be good, we might want to start to really distill it down and try to focus where we can help in certain areas. and then look at are we helping. I will tell you that in one of my new duties of visiting some of the other nonprofit associations, I went to a Sudanese location, and they wanted me to help them connect with us because they are taxi drivers. So there's another striation. So I'm just putting it out. There's some things I think we can look at. Imelda? You did the thing when the Heritage District, so you ought to have a little sensitivity to this. So at the end of the day, I'd like to just say, look, let's give it a chance to look at it. We've asked them to make the transition. I think we're ready to go. Okay? All right. I'm through. Is there anything else that, for the good of the order or at this point, city manager, anything you would like to add? Bob, would you like to say something? Because I want to be sure that you can even get into this game, because I don't want you to then- No, I'm feeling the pain a little bit because I have three small businesses.

Whenever we see a little bit of a turmoil on economy, small businesses are the first ones to take head. Somebody like me or David, we're a little bit more sophisticated where we know what the tools are available to us. Most small businesses don't. They don't know what tools are available to them. I've had a really good conversation with Carmen and Ms. Bowman about doing a small business symposium, and all we want to show them is what a city has available for you. We've got you. We're here for you. These are our plans, and these are the services that are available to you. I'm not sure if all, even, I don't want to put a number on it, or any percentage of businesses know about the loan. I've talked to a few folks that were struggling. They didn't know. I think they can be better proactive education. But this is, Mayor, this small business thing is so big that it's a long shot, but it might require its own committee and its own project that, hey, what are we going to go out and do when we hold hands with Chamber and come up with a plan?

Thank you, Mayor.

Okay. No, it's nice to have you back. Okay. City Manager, any last comments from anybody? Kayo, we need to go in executive session, am I correct? Yes, sir, we've got a couple of items for your consideration. Okay, well, if you would, thank you everybody for being with us. We'll go ahead and we're adjourned for the regular start of our meeting, but we'll go into executive session. Thank you.

Mayor, I'm happy to read us in. The time is 2.22. The Irving City Council will convene into a closed executive session. And this is relating to economic development negotiations and personnel pursuant to Open Meetings Act Sections 551.087 and 551.074.

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